Ask Dr. Trout & Zach

[Gary Grossman]

Greetings folks,

[Rob Snowhite]

I’ve got a question about use of flourocarbon tippets.

Flouro is supposed to be invisible to fish right?
Unless someone is fishing hooks with tiny eyes and needs a small diameter tippet, I see no reason to use really light flouro tippets -that could break off on a fish, snags, and on back casts into trees.

If a fish can’t see the stuff why should I use 5x flouro from brand ABC for drifting nymphs when I have a spool of 8lb or 10lb Seagur flouro?

Why use 4x flouro for steelhead for an egg sucking leech when one can use 10lb material?

If one can cast decently, turn over flies etc on a variety of tippets, why the need for the small stuff?

Invisible is invisible is it not?

I’ve got some more that I’ve been pondering…

edit: rob snowhite, alexandria va

[Gary Grossman]

Hi, thanks Rob, I forgot to mention that I need your real name and the town that you live in.

[Tim Angeli]

Here’s one:

How good is a trout’s eye sight at night?

[John Stanley]

Question:
We see mice flies in our fly shops, and we hear that large brown trout love mice, so do large brown trout often eat mice?

John Stanley
Lebanon, Virginia

[regan c. kenyon jr.]

How many 16 inch rainbows does it take to make a 40 inch striper stop eating them off the end of my fly line?

[Rob Snowhite]

I have never seen a fish eat water striders or whirligig beetles.

These insects can be out and about in great numbers yet never appear to be eaten. They look like an easy meal yet move about the surface un molested by fish below.

Might they taste bad?

Why don’t fish eat them?

[charlie kreitler]

Gary,

[BrownNose] I always enjoy your column. [/BrownNose]

One of the places that is near and dear to me is the Adirondacks in New York. A century ago this was a brook trout and lake trout paradise. However, the particular area I go to in the west central Adirondacks (not near the well known Au Sable River) has poor trout fishing as a result of decades of acid rain. There seems to be some very tentative signs of recover, but like the damage it will probably take decades.

How does the acidity of the water affect trout? What is a reasonable expectation for recovery in those regions that have been affected by acid rain? The waters look gorgeous, but for the most part are still empty.

Charlie

[Author]

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